An Early Confession
by CancerTheCrab
Summary: Hide confesses that he knows Kaneki is half-ghoul, and somehow they end up kissing, but neither were very upset. Then, Kaneki gets captured by the Aogiri tree and it all falls apart. He's rescued but...different. Together, the residents of Anteiku, Hide, and Kaneki learn what it means to be a family. The rating is just in case and Kaneki and Hide like kissing. A lot. Enjoy! (AU)
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Okie dokie this is my first attempt at published fanfiction so the characters may be OOC, so I apologize in advance. Most of these stories will be oneshots, but there may be some exceptions. All of the stories are in an AU where Hide confessed to knowing Kaneki was a ghoul early on. Also, Hide came with Kaneki on his journey, along with all of the characters present in the manga.

 **Chapter One: There For You**

Hide was always there, ever since Kaneki had met him in grade school. He was there throughout his mother's death, his aunt's neglect, and the horrifying incident with Rize. He'd worried and stressed and fussed all throughout Kaneki's road to recovery, so obviously Hide would notice something was going on. For a while, the orange-haired teen had wanted to have Kaneki keep thinking that his little blunders and Hide's incredible intuition hadn't figured out that his best friend ate human flesh. Hide had tried so hard, so very hard, to make it seem as though he was oblivious but after seeing the spark in Kaneki's eyes, the spark worked so hard to bring back, fading more and more every day. He'd snapped, the weight of his knowledge being too much to handle.

During the confession, Kaneki had shown more emotion since becoming a ghoul, and it was even more than old Kaneki had shown. Days after Hide's confession, they'd become more than just friends, happily becoming the cutest couple at Anteiku.

This also meant that Hide was there for Kaneki's capture and his rescue. Seeing how different he was. Seeing him, a timid young man reluctant to hurt anything or anyone turned into a merciless killer as they fought through Aogiri's base, was heartbreaking. It hurt to see his beloved boyfriend's innocence ripped away from his frail hands. Hide remembered exactly how Kaneki was forced to fight for his life again and again, against unlucky Doves and some of Aogiri's best. Including Noro.

" _Let us fight, Kaneki!"_

" _You need to rest!"_

 _No matter what they said, no matter how much they pleaded the white-haired ghoul relentlessly attacked the masked enemy. Every time the string-like kagune gathered itself to impale or flung him across the roof and into walls, Kaneki always got up and attacked. He fought…differently than before. He was deadly and precise with his movements. The more he watched, the harder it became to ignore, because Hide_ knew _what it was. His sweet, quiet Kaneki was fighting to kill. He could feel his heart break the moment he accepted that._

 _Hide was jarred from his thoughts when his team of ghouls let out a collective gasp, Touka going as far as letting out a yell of…triumph? When he looked up his breath caught in his throat, and he could feel his eyes bugging out, his jaw drop. Kaneki had all four of his kagune stabbed into the decapitated, and terrifyingly alive, body of Noro. Under his right foot was the ghoul's head. Out of the corner of his eye, Hide saw Touka turn Hinami away as Kaneki crushed the head under his foot with a resounding 'crunch' and tore the body into four pieces, taking it a step further and crushing those as well. It was silent except for the yells of Doves in the background, suspense building, and all present hoping to whatever god would listen that the mutilated piece wouldn't stitch back together. As soon as it appeared that the pieces wouldn't reform Noro, Kaneki released a long, fatigued sigh and tilted backwards._

 _In that instant, Hide managed to scramble up from the dirty ground and rush to_ his _Kaneki's side. Catching his limp and battered body, his eyes quickly roved over the exhausted half-ghoul's body and tried to take stock of his injuries as the rest of his team rushed over_

Currently, Hide was sitting on a worn chair beside Kaneki's bed. Sunlight filtered in through the half closed blinds. Yoshimura, with the help of the rest of the ghouls at Anteiku had turned the guest room into a cozier room for Kaneki's recovery. It had been a full week since the rescue and most of the leftover wounds had healed. For everyone _except_ Kaneki. His fever hadn't gone down for 3 days and he hadn't moved an inch. The manager had said that the half-ghoul wasn't even sleeping, he was unconscious. He'd warned Hide that the young man would most likely wake for 5-10 minutes and fall asleep right after, and said that it was vitally important that he got real rest. That meant that Hide would only have 5-10 minutes with his love until he'd have to wait for who knows how long, which is how he ended up sleeping and eating in the same room for a week and taking 3 minute showers. Tsukiyama and Touka were almost as bad, coming in every 15 minutes to check up on him. Hinami stayed with him pretty much all day, too, but occasionally went down to the shop to lend a hand.

…

Hide was nodding off, he'd been nibbling on the food Touka had brought up but ended up losing his appetite. In his hand he held Kaneki's own. It felt so small, so fragile, like the rest of him. He was afraid of doing much more than holding hands and kissing his forehead, afraid of Kaneki shattering like glass. It was quiet in the room, the sun had gone down by then and the workers of Anteiku were talking in low voices. Hinami, Touka, and Nishiki were gathered around the bed, not saying anything when Hide felt the soft fingers wrapped in his twitch. He jolted up, surprising the ghouls present and leaned over Kaneki, his eyes trained on the fluttering ones just below him, then thought better and sat back down. He'd probably startle the young man. The three previously silent ghouls had leaned forward as well as Kaneki opened his eyes. Hide was dismayed to see fear in those beautiful eyes he'd so missed until recognition flashed in the pools of grey. The half ghoul turned his head toward the blotch of orange and tan, knowing the messy hair even in his dazed state. His jaw worked and he swallowed and his lips parted futilely for a moment until-

"Hi…de?" he croaked.

Hide almost leapt forward, tears of joy almost overflowing in his eyes. He whispered, "Kaneki, yeah, I'm he-here. I'm here." He stumbled over his words and he felt a huge, watery grin stretch his cheeks until the tears ran down his face. Nimble fingers wiped away his tears and he looked down to see a small smile on his pale face. Hinami had big tears rolling down her face and her smile was identical to Touka's. Nishiki was fighting his own grin, and Yoshimura had a gentle smile on his weathered face. He could see Tsukiyama sigh in relief, and Banjou was sobbing as hard as Hinami at this point.

For the next 5 minutes, everyone got a turn to hug and exchange words with Kaneki, then shuffle out to let him rest. The manager smiled at the two and turned off the lights as he walked out. He tugged Hide's sleeve with what little strength he had and gestured for him to lie down. He maneuvered himself to gently lay himself down with his boyfriend, who was already looking exhausted again. Nothing was resolved, and Hide could see the haunted look in Kaneki's eyes, but they were okay in that moment in the cozy little room with their arms around each other as though they were lifelines. They were okay, hearing the faint sobs of happiness from Banjou and exclaims in French from Tsukiyama and Touka kicking both yelling at them to be quiet. They'd figure it out together and help each other heal.

It was okay because they were together.


	2. Chapter 2

Ah…sorry to keep you waiting?*starts to cry* Please don't hurt me. Uh it's been months since I've updated this…urgh. This is really short too. And old. And I typed it on my phone's Notes app. At 1 am. Also months ago. Anyway…have a pathetic attempt at continuing my stories! I'll try to update more, and I think I'll be able to since IT'S ALMOST SUMMER AHAHAHA! Ahem. Enjoy.

oO-Oo

Hide never let himself sleep before Kaneki did. If he did that, Kaneki would never sleep. It was simple: listen for the change in his breathing and _then_ rest. But tonight the clock kept ticking and his boyfriend's chest didn't fall into the rhythm he listened for every night. The one that made his efforts seem like they weren't in vain. Today had been a bad day, so Hide wasn't surprised.

Hide had decided to keep tabs on the stability (or lack thereof) of his boyfriend's mental state. He would ask how he was feeling and Kaneki would respond with a number from 1 to 10. 1 meant that he felt good and had a good amount of sleep (relative to most nights). 10, on the other hand, meant that he would not be able to function for various reasons that day, including the very high possibility of a break down and nightmares that dragged him down.

That morning, Kaneki had woken up even earlier than usual and when Hide asked, he rasped out, "Seven." The latter would then tell everyone that Kaneki needed support and safe distractions to get him through the day. Safe meant whatever activity they engaged it didn't have the threat of a trigger. Things like reading with Hinami, picking flowers with Tsukiyama, cooking with Banjou, things that wouldn't bring on panic attacks, or worse, flashbacks. Every time Hide thought of the precautions they had to take to keep his love happy, he felt like he was cracking. Kaneki didn't look any happier and the only thing that hinted at progress is the dwindling amount of episodes. It broke his heart. But, at the same time it only made him more determined to try harder and be better. But, there is always a downside to these things. It goes like this: one step forward.

Two steps back.

oO-Oo

"I'm sorry," Hide was startled out of his daze. Checking the clock, he saw it was 3 am. "I'm so sorry."

"Kaneki? What's wrong?"

His voice broke, "I'm sorry you have to stay awake until I'm not."

"No- Baby it's okay. I don't mind."

"I'm sorry you have to stay with me and calm me down when I freak out," he paused, "over _nothing_."

At this, Hide sat up and turned on the light. Kaneki was trembling violently and on the verge of tears. "Look at me, Kaneki." He cupped the half-ghoul's face tenderly and stroked his cheek with his thumb. "I love you. This is what I'll do to show you how much I love you. I'm not good with words, you are. All I can do is show you with my actions, my love. This isn't your fault. None of it is."

"But I jus-just get in the way. You have t-to ask me how I'm feeling and when-whenever it's more than 5 I r-ruin your d-day because you have to t-take ca-care of me." He was sobbing now, little hiccups escaping his lips. He curled into himself now that he was sitting up. "But it's _always a five!_ "

"Kaneki I don't- you're not a burden. No matter what you do or how you feel _I'll_ _be there_. Even if it's just one a one that day I won't ever leave you."

"No, no, _no, no!_ You can't love me! I'm fake! It's all fake! Even when we were younger that wasn't me- my mother wasn't a good person! She _beat me_ and she died because of me, because I was so useless! I was a disgrace, pathetic! H-how could I even try to be part of my aunt's family? S-stupid. I'm not the person you love." He sobbed again, his body shaking with each one. The lights turned on outside and he knew Hinami and Banjou had woken up, no doubt having gotten used to listening for something like this. "I don't _deserve_ your love."

Hide wasn't sure what would help. Despite not knowing exactly what would work he crawled forward on the bed and in one fluid motion sat Kaneki down on his lap. His legs folded over Hide's thigh that he could lean sideways into his boyfriend. One hand wrapped around his body with their shoulders touching and his hand resting on the shaking hip. The other brushed away the endless stream of tears with gentle fingers. "You are real, Kaneki Ken. I don't care who you are, you are my favorite person in the world. I will protect you for as long as we are together. Nothing in this world could ever make me stop loving you." Kaneki buried his face in Hide's neck, giving him the opportunity to breathe in the scent of the white-haired boy he held. He smelled like home, like everything in the world that gave him joy. "I will protect you," he repeated. The too tiny body in his arms heaved with another sob. Hide rocked him gently as he hummed a song Kaneki liked. It was soft and slow and sounded like a lullaby, just what they needed. Hide shifted and leaned against the headboard and placed his precious, fragile Kaneki right next to him. He curled around the love of his life protectively and (just a little) possessively.

"I love you so much, Kaneki Ken."


End file.
